Additive manufacturing of continuous fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites

Continuous fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites possess outstanding high-temperature stability, high toughness and high specific strength, making them key structural materials for aerospace, nuclear energy and other high-tech fields. Conventional fabrication technologies are difficult to realize the integrated forming of complex structures, accompanied by long manufacturing cycles and high costs. To address these issues, we propose a laser additive manufacturing technique for continuous fiber-reinforced silicon carbide ceramics, which enables the integrated preparation of high-performance complex components. A continuous fiber composite prepreg filament manufacturing device was developed to realize the fabrication of prepreg filaments with high fiber content. A laser additive manufacturing strategy for continuous fibers was proposed to prepare green bodies with high fiber content and low porosity. A carbonization stabilization process for the preform was put forward, and the influence laws of preform carbon density on the flexural strength and fracture toughness of continuous fiber-reinforced silicon carbide ceramics were revealed. A quantitative relationship between fiber dispersion uniformity in pores and the mechanical properties of continuous fiber-reinforced silicon carbide ceramics was established, and the strengthening and toughening mechanisms of additively manufactured continuous fiber-reinforced silicon carbide ceramics were clarified. A zonal speed regulation algorithm was proposed to solve the problem of constant velocity in traditional path planning, realizing the integrated fabrication of continuous fiber-reinforced silicon carbide ceramic turbine vanes.